Renewing the Federal Comprehensive Land Claims Policy

Since 1973, the Government of Canada has been negotiating comprehensive land claims or modern treaties with Aboriginal groups and provincial or territorial governments. The policy that guides the federal government in these treaty negotiations is called the comprehensive land claims policy.

The last update of this policy was published in 1986. Canada's policy approach to treaty negotiations has evolved significantly since 1986 through discussions with Aboriginal and provincial or territorial partners at negotiating tables and as a result of various court decisions. Many of these changes are not reflected in the 1986 policy publication.

Aboriginal groups, provincial and territorial governments and others have long called for renewed federal approaches to accelerate progress in treaty making to advance reconciliation and unlock new economic opportunities for Aboriginal communities. The Government of Canada has heard these concerns and is open to looking at ways to address these issues.

Engagement Process

As a key step toward a new framework to address Aboriginal rights, Canada is seeking feedback from its negotiating partners, key stakeholders and other interested parties to improve the way it negotiates comprehensive land claims. On July 28, 2014, Minister Valcourt announced the appointment of Douglas Eyford as a Ministerial Special Representative to lead engagement with Aboriginal groups and key stakeholders to renew and reform the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy.

As a starting point for dialogue, AANDC is releasing a document called Renewing the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy: Towards a Framework for Addressing Section 35 Aboriginal Rights. This interim policy outlines the Government of Canada's current approach to treaty negotiations, along with key updates. This interim policy includes important new principles of recognition and reconciliation and was shaped by extensive past engagement with negotiating partners. It responds to calls for change, including some key recommendations of the 2013 Eyford report.

This engagement will also provide an important forum for all parties to take into account recent developments in Aboriginal law.

Your input into the engagement process led by Douglas Eyford as a Ministerial Special Representative will help Canada improve the way it negotiates comprehensive land claims. A summary of what was heard during the engagement will be published. Once finalized, the renewed Comprehensive Land Claims Policy will replace and supercede all previous iterations of the policy and will form the first component of the new Framework for Addressing Section 35 Aboriginal Rights.

How is this Interim Policy different from the 1986 policy?

This interim policy outlines Canada's current approach to treaty negotiations, including the major developments that have occurred since the publication of the last comprehensive land claims policy in 1986.

The interim policy was shaped by extensive engagement with negotiating partners since 2009 to try to identify solutions to address key impediments and accelerate progress. It is a starting point for dialogue that responds to calls for change in key areas, including:

  • New principles to guide treaty making based on recognition and reconciliation that were jointly developed with First Nation leaders through the Senior Oversight Committee on Comprehensive Claims
  • More flexible options and tools for addressing Aboriginal rights in the short and medium term both inside and outside of treaty negotiations
  • Shifting the focus from settling claims to reconciling rights on an ongoing basis
  • Clarifying how Canada supports Aboriginal groups to resolve their shared territory disputes where these issues arise in the context of treaty negotiations.

This is one step in the evolution of federal policies and approaches for addressing section 35 Aboriginal rights. Canada recognizes that these federal policies and approaches will continue to evolve over time and looks forward to continuing to work with partners to negotiate fair agreements that work for and benefit all parties.

Share your comments

We are interested in receiving feedback and comments from all interested parties to help us further renew and reform the comprehensive claims policy.

Over the fall of 2014, Douglas Eyford in his role as the Ministerial Special Representative will be using the interim policy to seek input from Aboriginal groups, key stakeholders and other interested parties. You may submit comments to Douglas Eyford by email (at: article35-section35@aadnc-aandc.gc.ca) as well as through online tools.

We invite you to read the interim policy and provide your comments by November 30, 2014.

How to participate

You can participate by providing your feedback in the following ways:

To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, personal information including phone numbers and emails should not be included when submitting comments. By proceeding with the voluntary submission of your comments, you are consenting to the use of the information being provided as set out in the Privacy Notice Statement section.

1. Submit your feedback via the online comment box

2. Submit your ideas by email to:

article35-section35@aadnc-aandc.gc.ca

3. Send us your comments by regular mail to:

Policy Coordination and Development Branch
Treaties and Aboriginal Government Sector
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
10 Wellington, 8th floor
Gatineau, QC K1A 0H4

What information is available?

Privacy Notice Statement

You may want to print this Statement for future reference as it contains important contact information.

This Privacy Notice Statement explains the purposes and use of the input that you will be providing. The collection and use of the input are authorized by section 4 of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Act.

We will use the comments that are provided by participants in the engagement process to inform the revision of the draft AANDC document entitled "Renewing the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy: Towards a Federal Framework for Addressing Section 35 Aboriginal Rights" (September 2014). Comments will be recorded by AANDC within the department's internal correspondence system and then the original messages which contained the comments will be destroyed. During the revising of the draft document, submitted comments may be shared within the Department and with other relevant federal departments and agencies, if required.

If you provide any personal information, it will be handled in accordance with any applicable provisions of the Privacy Act. Pursuant to subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act, in some cases personal information may be disclosed without your consent for purposes not outlined in this Statement. Any personal information provided is collected and / or shared, as described in TBS Outreach Activities PSU 938 and Cooperation and Liaison PRN 904.

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The Privacy Act states that you have the right to access your personal information and request changes to that personal information if it contains errors. You may contact our office by email at: article35-section35@aadnc-aandc.gc.ca in order to access any personal information which you have provided to us, or in order to notify us about errors in your personal information.

If you require clarification about this Statement and/or about your rights to access, please contact our ATIP Coordinator at 819-997-8277. For more information on privacy issues and the Privacy Act in general, you can consult the Privacy Commissioner at 1(800) 282-1376.

Once you have entered your comment in the comment box, you may still cancel before submitting your comment. If you cancel, none of the input you have entered up to that point will be retained.